response 2 of 166:

Mar 22 16:20 UTC 1996

So you had your Indian stay.
Hasn't it left you with the urge to go back?
(But not on a working basis).
Concerning your bare shoulders I can say the following:
bare shoulders are considered as being offensive in being decent, or
not. A woman does not show legs or shoulders. But looking at the women
wairing saris that show the belly that's not being offensive.
So I concluded that local standards in being properly clad or not
differ from western ideas. (for that matter: a man doesn't wair
shorts).

Another thing: I've get a vegetarian dish somewhere. I'll look it
up for you and post.
Oh yes, I don't know whether I said something about the t-shirts:
they arrived sound and safe at my home, and I'm sure to wair them
in summer.
Last thing: I think Indian people are very beautiful.

As for the cows: loose cows are, as I heard, once given as an
offer to a templ and then discarded. Which makes this cow entirely
free, nobody owns such a cow and it's being left to itself.
Cows being holy I did not understand. Since they were considered
being holy I kept my distance to them. But locals easily hit and
pushed them when they stood in their way (which is in the narrow 
streets near the banks of the Ganga in Varanasi, quite possible).

CU

response 4 of 166:

Mar 23 00:07 UTC 1996

  I've heard the far east is nice.  A friend of mine took a trip to
Thailand and fell in love with the place.  Now he's taking a leave of
absence so he can go live in Thailand, Singapore and that general
area for a year.  I'm envious but on the other hand it sounds like it
gets awfully *HOT* over there.

response 6 of 166:

Mar 23 01:13 UTC 1996

What a neat travelogue! Any considerations for jet-lag in either direction?
  
Is the 8-hr day in effect? With 4-5 hrs of travel everyday did you see
any farming, general agriculture, retail shops, other business/production
activity? Any walking around the city/countryside? any photographs?

response 8 of 166:

Mar 23 12:13 UTC 1996

Grrreat! that you liked India (Bombay/Mumbai in particular!) 
I wonder if you are aware that bombay is also called Bollywood?!
what you missed probabally was an Indian regional movie! (m,ay be 
Hindi!) 
do you plan another  trip sometime?

response 10 of 166:

Mar 24 02:41 UTC 1996

Yes, thanks, Valerie. I ran into the nodding problem when I trained
two gentlemen from Bangalore. One in particular would shake his head yes from
side to side. It was a bit disconcerting at first, but easily understood once
I knew what he meant.

It's a very interesting head movement. Not the same as our "no", because 
in addition to moving the head from side to side, the head is alternately
tilted at the same time. It's quite unique to India, I believe, and 
may even be regional.

I was also quite aware of the Indians' passion for cricket. I learned from
my friend Bill (wfh) Hester who lives in NZ where they have a similar passion,
and from my friend George in the UK, who spent a lot of time in Bangalore
supervising the work we had contracted out there, and who did a bit of bowling
on the side (cricket bowling, not American bowling - it's like pitching, only
very different).

I have never been to India, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect you would
find, but I was not surprised to hear about cows and oxen. I was also 
aware of the acute power shortages throughout the entire country. But I 
was very surprised to hear about the lack of sidewalks and about the air 
quality.

response 12 of 166:

Mar 24 05:05 UTC 1996

Now who gave you that? (I mean both the TB as well as that equally 
infectious rumour item!) Its like associating every Americam wit
h AIDS ......

response 14 of 166:

Mar 24 18:25 UTC 1996

  It's maybe a Good Thing(tm) that I didn't go. I would've had about 1000
pictures, and the WORST luck in the world. I love to travel, but the gods of
travel must not like me. ;)

response 16 of 166:

Mar 24 18:46 UTC 1996

A good travelogue!! I had been there some time last year. Walked a lot to get
all sorts of experiance. Lot of vaiety in lifestyles to languages. 

response 18 of 166:

Mar 25 16:27 UTC 1996

Thanks, Valerie.  I enjoyed reading about your trip.  Your descriptions are
so vivid.  I can relate to your experience of having to call a doctor to your
hotel room.  That happened to me in Rome, and it is definitely scary when they
prescribe mysterious pills.  I'm glad it all worked out so well for you.

response 20 of 166:

Mar 26 07:31 UTC 1996

Most Americans in Europe think everything is dirty. I avoided Americans
when I lived in Europe, as most of them were insufferable. I enjoyed
your travelogue very much, Valerie. You had a real advantage in being
there to do a job, and not be just a tourist - people undoubtedly took
you more seriously. Did you encounter any evidences of sexism, appart 
from clothing conventions?

response 22 of 166:

Mar 27 01:24 UTC 1996

It was a great read, Valerie.  Sounds like you had a good time overall.

response 24 of 166:

Mar 28 02:31 UTC 1996

My friends in Bangalore have told me the same thing a jbalakri writes in #21.
There are so many languages, that the people of India must learn at least 4
completely different languages to get along.  At least in most places
(1) English (2) Hindi (3) Local language
But then there are 26 local languages. Hindi is the official government
language, and also the local language near the capital.
Someone from India should please correct me if I made any errors.

My friends are software developers, and they told me they knew 5 languages.